Burning Hope
by Wilona Riva
Summary: Generations came and went. Danny watched his sister, family and friends live, die, and be reborn many times over. None remembered him as Clockwork had said. When Danny was able to escape Hecate for another lifetime, during the last dark moon of winter, Clockwork had suggested he enroll in a night school program, and suggested one in a timeline which none of his friends or family
1. Prologue

_Burning Hope_

 _By: Wilona Riva_

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom._

 _Author's Note: This story is dedicated to 77757, Totalfangirl01, and everyone who helped me to write this sequel. Please read Burning Angels before reading this story. I will be slow getting the chapters out as I am trying to finish **Of Saturn** and **At Three** at the moment. I originally had no intentions of writing a sequel to Burning Angels, but enough of you want there to be one, so here is the prologue. _

* * *

_**Prologue**_

* * *

 _Generations came and went. Danny watched his sister, family and friends live, die, and be reborn many times over. None remembered him as Clockwork had said. When Danny was able to escape Hecate for another lifetime, during the last dark moon of winter, Clockwork had suggested he enroll in a night school program, and suggested one in a timeline which none of his friends or family had been reincarnated into._

* * *

"Hey, Abs?" he whispered, leaning a bit to his left.

"Hmmm?" came her questioning hum.

"What was the answer to number 2?"

Whack! "Do your own homework, Daniel," she said, gripping her binder tightly, watching him rub the sore spot on the back of his head.

"Again, Mr. Fenton?" the librarian asked, not looking up from the book she was reading. "You really should study-this is study hall, ya know?"

"We know, Parsnip," Abs responded. "How's the rally going?"

"Shh!" the libarian whispered, holding her index finger to her lips.

"I only have tonight left, Abs," Danny hissed. "Remember daylight equals death for me?"

"Sucks being you," she retorted. "Okay, let's find that damned book."

"No swearing in these sacred halls of knowledge, please," the librarian said.

Abs flipped her the bird, and had it promptly returned. "Love you too, Parnip."

"Abby!"

"Coming, Danny."

* * *

 _When Danny had first started coming to the Night School, Abby thought it was nice not to be the only human attending. Until Danny literally walked into the door, and had a shiner for his trouble, much to teacher's amusement._

 _"Only for a night or two each month? How do you expect to receive an education, young man?!" Mr. Yellow yelled, reading more of the note the boy handed him._

 _"It is the only time I am free," Danny stated, clasping his heads, looking at the fascinating puke-colored floor tiles. His raven hair was longish-short in the backand he wore a strip of silver cloth for a headband. She wondered if he copied his look from Gin in the Rosario Vampire manga. So what if his blue jeans were a bit baggy, red-and-white converses a bit scruffy, and his long-sleeved white t-shirt a bit too long in the arms (they were folded back to his elbows, and still covered his wrists). He was still cute, if a bit of a klutz._

 _"What is your race?" Mr. Yellow asked, letting out a loud sigh, and reaching for the class roster_

 _"Is it necessary, sir?"_

 _"We try to help each race find its niche, such as vampires sleeping below ground, zombies in the graveyard, and humans, or rather, our lone human, in dormitory housing. Not every race can be near others, Mr. Fenton. So, what species, or genus, are you?"_

 _Danny's blue eyes lit up. "_ _Well, I guess you would call me... genus, humanus... Danny."_

 _"Walt Disney's classic 'Alice in Wonderland'," Mr. Yellow mused. "A favorite, Mr. Fenton?"_

 _"My sister's," came the reply, in a sad tone. "She died a long time ago."_

 _"I'm sorry for your loss," the teacher replied. "Please take your seat, and we'll continue where we left off on the ancient Chinese myth of the Candle Dragon."_

* * *

"Hey, Abs, is this the book?" Danny asked, snapping his fingers to get her attention.

"Yeah," she said, quickly glancing through its table of contents. _The Monster Bible of Ghostly Legends and Folklore_ has every myth known to man in its pages, and then some. It should be able to shed some light on how to break your curse."

"I'm a vampire, Abs," he said, not convinced. "Well, let's get reading. We've only got an hour until Miss White calls us to Riddles and Rhymes."

"Or Mr. Black tries to poison us with his latest concoction," she teased.

Danny made a face. "Good thing, I packed tomato juice then."

"Danny, what are these markings?" Abby whispered, looking down at the phases of the moon on his palms.

He looked down in horror. "I don't see anything." Oh, Ancients, please not again. Please not again.

"Looks like the seven phases of the moon are tattooed right on your...palms," Abby's voice trailed off. "Are you sure, you're alright?"

Danny looked down glumly. "Yes," he mumbled. "I'm not human, Abs. I'll leave you be to your research."

"And where do you think you're going, you silly ass?" she asked. "I told you I'd help you to break your curse, and that's what I'm going to do."

Danny's face held a bit of a smile. "Then what are we waiting for?"

* * *

 _"You will only be visible during the dark of the moon," Clockwork warned. "You will drink tomato juice to ward off the cravings, and drink human blood only when you must. Use discretion, Daniel, and if anyone sees the marks..."_

 _"Tell you at once, and don't partake of the Yakar fruit, which will soon follow," Danny finished. "Can I go to school now? I kinda miss being in a classroom after the last several lifetimes."_

 _"Hecate can still get free; that which seals her is growing weaker each moonrise. If you drink of the Yakar fruit, I cannot save you this time, Daniel. You will belong to her."_

 _He sighed. "I just want you to appear as human as possible. Did you feed yet?"_

 _"Was going out now," came the reply._

* * *

"Hey, here's one about a ghost prince...darn it, the pages are torn out," Abby threw the book down with a big thud. "I really wanted to read that story."

"Abs, calm down," Danny told her, relieved that his secret was still safe. "Why don't you try again later? I'll be visible again during the next dark moon rising. In the meantime, I'll ask my guardian and see if he has any information in that huge dusty old book collection of his."

"Fine, just Skype me if anything jumps out at you," she said. "We've got about 5 minutes to get to class."

"Right behind you."

Danny really loved Abby. She had brown eyes, blonde hair styled in a pixie cut with long bangs, and her favorite color was pink. Her favorite cartoon was My Little Pony-80s version, not the new one. She was Sam's complete opposite, but Ancients, did he like this crazy girl. Also, she loved to watch old episodes of NCIS. Her favorite character: Abby, of course. His favorite: Ducky. Which led to many a late night debate via Skype until he could reappear on the mortal plane.

Three nights a month really sucked at times.


	2. Mint Tinker

_Burning Hope_

 _By: Wilona Riva_

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom._

* * *

 **Mint Tinker**

* * *

 _It was on the 2nd night of the dark moon, that Abby heard the thump of someone moving around slowly in the room next to hers. "What is Danny doing up this late?" she muttered under her breath, glancing at the clock next to her bed-1 am. She and Danny had compared schedules, and showed they both attended Folklore and Myths from 6pm to 7pm, Cookery at 8:30pm, and Riddles and Rhymes at 10 pm._

 _Softly creeping to the hallway door, she opened it cautiously, and then gasped softly. Two ghosts floating quietly in the hallway-one of them was male and the other female. The girl ghost, looked like a goth rocker from the 70s with black leather leggings and a one-strap halter top. She had soft, glowing blue skin, black makeup, acid green eyes, and flaming blue hair in a ponytail._

 _"I don't care what you want, babypop," she was telling the male ghost. "You thirst, and must feed. There are reports that someone has been restoring Hecate's grove."_

 _The boy looked a little guilty at that; the other ghost seemed not to notice. He was handsome, being about the same height and build as Danny, she noted. They even wore the same hairstyle. The male ghost had tanned skin, white hair and wore acid-washed jeans, a red t-shirt underneath a beat-up worn out, dark brown leather bomber jacket, and black leather ankle boots that had chains backside and laced up on the front. "Not bad, just need the steampunk coat."_

 _"No," he flat out told her. "I just want to be normal, to be me for once in a fortnight."_

 _He hissed suddenly and turned to face her, catching sight of her yellow night gown with the little green turtles on them. "Abby!"_

It was again the dark of the moon, but they had a free evening, so she suggested they go to the Java Tree Cafe for karaoke. "Lisbeth and Portia have been dying to meet you, Danny. Are you sure you're guardian will allow you stay out this late."

"I've got some friends who are coming as well," he admitted, blushing a bit. "Ember says I need to get out more."

"Actually, what I said, dipstick was 'you need to be more socially active. Get out, meet a nice girl, and have fun. If you get laid, bonus points.'"

"Ember!" Danny yelled whirling around. "I'm only 14 years old."

"She's right, whelp," a deep male voice agreed. "You never live beyond 14 years in any lifetime, and the sooner you make sixteen, the sooner I can quit being your babysitter."

"Watch dogs," Danny muttered in an aside to Abby, who giggled. "Tell you what, go get your friends, and we'll meet you at the Java Tree. I've going to get something to drink first."

"Okay."

 _Abby only saw glimpses of Phantom on second nights of the dark of the moon. She did not know why these nights were special, but she enjoyed the rare treat. It was six months after Danny started attending the night school, that she connected the dots._

 _Danny had just finished singing a duet with his friend Ember, "A Bad Good-bye" by Clint Black and Wynonna Judd, and tossed kisses to the girls in the crowd. He slid a note into one girl's hand, and she was mildly surprised when she read it. She nodded at him._

 _"Who was that?" she asked him, as the next singer selected "Loser" by Three Doors Down._

 _"Her name is Connie, if you must know. She's a cosmetology student at the hair salon next door to the car wash on Edwards and Sixth."_

 _"She's too old to for you," she blurted out, then blushed._

 _"Jealous?"_

 _"No," she said._

 _Danny watched her aura flare a dark and muddled blue. "If you say so," he said. "I'm going outside for a bit of air. Do you mind?"_

 _"No," she said. "It's my turn anyway on the stage."_

 _"Have fun." With those words, he left._

 _Watching the older girl, she made an excuse to follow her. The girl made a left out the door and then walked into a dimly lit alley on the side of the Java Tree. Waiting for her was Phantom. He smiled, and she blushed._

 _Extending one hand, he pulled her to his side, and whispered softly in her ear. Abby was a teeny bit jealous when the girl grabbed Phantom and stole a kiss from him. His ruby eyes laughed for a minute, then the girl's own blue ones went blank. Phantom wrapped one arm around her waist, and he gently tilted her head back, and bit her neck._

 _Looking up, he noted Abby staring. He swallowed, and closed the wounds. He looked so much like him, that she blurted out, "Danny?"_

 _He nodded, not surprised she'd found him. She was his Sam and Tucker rolled into one in this world. "Surprise, Abby," he said. "I'm not human."_

 _"What the hell, Danny, are you?"_

 _"Cursed," he finally said, after a pregnant pause. "Let's go back to the dorm and I'll explain."_

"I told her some of it," he admitted, finishing the story, but we've a bigger problem to worry about."

"What?" Skulker demanded.

Danny showed them his palms.

"Oh, hell," Ember muttered. "I told you not to enter Hecate's domain and water those trees, didn't I? Clockwork told you they were supposed to die out. Give me your hands. These are fresh. How long ago, Phantom?"

"My mother's trees must live," he stated, snatching his hands back. "I watered them last evening tide."

"PHANTOM!" both ghosts yelled at him.

"I'm going hunting," he told them. "Can we talk about this later?"

"No, dipstick, we're not. Hecate is free, and you must get to the lair of the Time Master quick before she calls you to her side."

He sighed, just as three human girls wandered over.

"So this is Danny?" the red-head asked, giving him the once-over. "He's kind of skinny."

"Are you sure he's human?" the other blonde hair girl asked. She had waist-length clover honey hair with spiky bangs.

"Ooh, am I sensing a marmalade sandwhich here, Phantom?" Skulker teased.

"SKULKER!" Ember yelled, smacking his head off. "Now's not the time to throw out sexual entendres. Hecate is free, and we've got to get Danny to Clockwork...where's Danny?"

"So, I guess this means no karaoke tonight?" Portia, the red-head asked.

"I sense Abby's been holding back on us," Lisbeth commented. "I want to know more about this Danny fellow. And why do you guys," pointing at the ghosts, "call him Phantom?."


	3. Dancing Lake

_Burning Hope_

 _By: Wilona Riva_

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom._

* * *

 **Dancing Lake**

* * *

 _He couldn't ignore the hunger for much longer. Hecate was safely locked away so he was free to move about in the night during the dark moon. Throwing back the covers he transformed, and opened the door to find Ember waiting. And of course, five minutes later, Abby had to be curious._

When Clockwork tapped his staff repeatedly into his hand, you knew you were in trouble. Danny sat in the hot seat waiting for him to speak.

"How long have you been watering the Yakar trees, Daniel?" Yep, the Time Master was ticked.

"Since the voice..." his voice trailed off. When had he started hearing Hecate's voice? He rummaged through the events of the last few weeks, and realized it was...Oh, great! The night he first met Abby as Phantom. "Since the night, I met Abby as Phantom," he corrected himself.

Head hung low, he groaned. _Way to go, Fenton, you've really screwed up now._

"What form did she take?" Clockwork asked in a low tone.

"Jazz."

"I see."

 _After Ember had accompanied him to a movie, and left him to hunt, Phantom had teleported to a nearby park to contemplate on how to approach Abby about what she'd seen. She was a cross between Sam and Tucker, and he knew he couldn't play it off as a trick of the light._

 _"You can always pretend you're under a curse or something," Jazz suggested, materializing in his mind's eyes sitting crosslegged across from him. An interesting feat, considering he was hanging upside down on the monkey bars._

 _"She'd want to know the nature of the curse," he argued._

 _"Tell her you're forbidden to give her the details."_

 _"Not going to fly, Jazz. She's as smart as Sam, and not as gullible as Dad."_

 _"Well, wait until she connects the dots, then explain to her some of your experiences. I know you tore those pages out of the book."_

 _"Which ones?"_

 _"The ones containing your story," his sister said smiling. "Maybe she can at least find a way for you to walk in the day again."_

 _"Maybe," he said, righting himself. Looking around, Jazz was gone. Had been gone for a long time._

"It escalated from there. Sometimes, she would be Jazz, Sam, Valerie or even Mom," Danny said. "It was always someone I knew from my first lifetime. And Urse once."

"Who?"

"The girl with the bubblegum pink hair."

"Of course," came the dry tone. "How can anyone forget that walking disaster."

"Clockwork, I swear I didn't know I was watering the plants until a few nights ago! You know I would never venture into her domain willingly."

"And yet you did," his guardian said. "What's done is done, Daniel. I will send you back to the moment you left. Give this," handing him a winged sphere, "to your protectors."

Danny reappeared in human form in the alley a second after he disappeared. Ember socked him in the stomach. He handed her the winged sphere, crumbling to the ground in pain.

"Ass," she growled. "Don't you ever do that again."

"Didn't have a choice," he shot back. "When he calls, you answer."

"Figures, since he gave you a negation crystal."

"A what?"

"You really are dense, whelp," Skulker said.

"Shut up."

"Make me."

"Will y'all all shut up and explain what's going on?!" Abby yelled in exasperation. Portia and Lisbeth nodded.

"Maybe we can take this to a more quiet place?" Danny asked.

"How about the park?" Skulker suggested. "You always go there to think since I first met you."

Abby shrugged. "Sounds fine."

"Okay," Danny agreed, then turned burning blue eyes on the older male ghost. "And if you so much as bring up any more ideas of me getting 'some action' as Ember puts it, I will personally have Technus program the mating habits of purple back gorillas into your database."

"Please, no!"

 _"So what exactly are you?" Abby asked, as Phantom reversed his transformation into his human form._

 _"A halfa," he stated. "Half-human, half ghost. I need your help, Abby."_

 _"I'm all ears," she said, grinning._


	4. Rocky Emerald

_Burning Hope_

 _By: Wilona Riva_

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom._

* * *

 **Rocky Emerald**

* * *

 _"Have you finished your narrative yet, Daniel?" Clockwork asked his young charge, who nodded._

 _"Yes, up to the third chapter-beginning of the fourth," Phantom replied, turning ruby eyes back to the sphere in his hand. "It's a bit zig-zaggy, going back in and filling in all the blanks."_

 _"Well, your Abby and her friends were detrimental in figuring out how to defeat Hecate at last, young prince," Clockwork admonished him._

 _"Tomorrow, I turn sixteen," Danny said, scratching his neck. "And that means..."_

 _"...you become King of All Ghosts, as is the law," Clockwork finished. "But for now, you need to hunt. Lay aside your work. It is karaoke night, after all, and can't keep the ladies waiting."_

 _Phantom's ruby eyes lit up. Without a word, he dashed into his room, and slammed the door shut._

 _The Time Master chuckled softly._

 _"All is as it should be."_

"Sorry, Parsnip didn't want to let me check out the book," Abby said the next evening. Portia and Lisbeth had cheerleading practice and a book club meeting repectively. "Do you have the negation jewel."

"Crystal," Phantom corrected, handing her the winged sphere.

"So what are we supposed to do with this thng?" Abby asked him. "And I thought your friends were going to help?"

Danny shifted to human form and sat down on the floor next to her. Abby's room was cluttered, noisy, and loud (color wise). His room was cluttered, quiet, and barely decorated since he lived in the Ghost Zone save for 3 nights out of every 30 day period. He shrugged.

"Skulker probably is adding new weaponry to his suit, and Ember is adding new music to her repetoire."

" Thirsty?" she asked him.

"Yeah," he admitted.

"Here," she said, tossing him an a light-colored apple. "The cafeteria got a new selection of fruit today, and this was the last one left. You can eat fruit, right?"

"Fruit juices, mostly," he replied. "I'm not used to anything solid yet."

"How do you drink fruit juices?"

He wriggled his eyebrows, and put down the fruit. "Later, after we finish this. What you do with the crystal is hold it over the book, and utter the correct phrase."

Abby opened the book to the torn-out pages of the story. "Okay, we've gotten this far. Now what?"

Danny handed her the crystal. "I can't do this. You have to do it; it's a precaution Clockwork built in it."

She nodded. "Makes sense." Taking the crystal she held it out over the torn pages, and said, "Aparecium."

Danny snorted. "Way too much, Harry Potter, Abs," he said. The correct phrase is: **Transit umbra, lux permanet."**

"What?"

"Latin Means 'shadow passes, light remains.'"

Abby gasped, pointing at the book. "Danny, look!"

A faint glimmer of light appeared, then another. Each pinprick of light gathered together, and soon the torn pages of the book were once more a part of the novel.

" _Burning Angels_ ," Abby read, tracing the letters. " _Chapter 1: White Apple. I recently gained a new power to sense the emotions of others. I see them as auras. Sam thinks it's really cool; Tucker is a bit disturbed_. Danny, this is told from your point of view."

"What did you expect?" Danny told her. "This is my story after all."

"This is the story about a cursed ghost prince...Oh my gosh! You're the ghost prince."

"Yes," he said, looking downwards at his hands. "Keep reading, Abs. You deserve the whole truth."

"Okay," she said, and sat down to read each of the 10 chapters which made up the short tale. She began sniffling halfway through, and fully bawling by the end.

"Danny," she whispered, "Oh, Danny!"

"Hush, Abs," he whispered, taking her into his arms. He sang a soft lullaby about a fuzzy caterpillar that had her smiling by song's end.

"That was utterly silly," Danny told her with a weak smile on his face. "Are you alright?"

"I think so,"she said. "Do you still have that fruit I gave you?"

He blinked, picking it up a minute later from atop the book next to him. "Oh, the fruit juice trick. I almost forgot about it." Transforming into Phantom, he brought the pale fruit to his lips and showed her his fangs just briefly before biting into the fruit.

"Danny, no!" she yelled, too late, as the Yakar juice dribbled down his chin, its salt and copper tang in his mouth. His eyes went blank a minute later, and his form wavered a bit, before reclothing himself in a white druidic robe, and silver ornaments and sandals. Since she was still in contact with him, the world went black when he teleported to Hecate's midnight gardens.

 _The very air of the Ghost Zone rocked with horrible tremors. On Skulker's island, two very frantic ghosts were scrambling to get out of the way of falling wood and weaponry._

 _"What the hell could cause an earthquake in the Ghost Zone?" Skulker asked in an annoyed tone._

 _"Hecate is free," the Time Master stated dryly. "Daniel has partaken of the Yakar juice."_

 _Ember let out a few choice swear words. "Can we save him?"_

 _"No," Clockwork replied. "He belongs to Hecate now."_


	5. Breezy Dunes

_Burning Hope_

 _By: Wilona Riva_

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom._

* * *

 **Breezy Dunes**

* * *

Abby opened her eyes slowly, waiting for the bright spots to settle. Suddenly, she shot up. Danny! Looking around quickly, she saw she was chained to a broken pillar on a raised dias of some kind. A faint golden light from a lantern showed a glowing half-moon in the starry sky.

"It is always night here, milady," a girl in black jeans and turquoise long-sleeved blouse told her. She had long red-orange hair pulled back with a turquoise headband, "My name is Jasmine Fenton. Jazz, for short."

"Why are you being so polite?" Abby asked. "And where's here?"

"The Labyrinth of Lost Souls," a dark-skinned boy said, appearing to her left. He smiled. "My name is Tucker Foley. TF as in too fine."

"Still lame," a goth girl said, appearing behind Jazz. "You'd think to get a new pickup line after all these years."

"Shut it," Tucker snapped, rolling his eyes at her.

She whacked him in the back of the head.

"Sorry to break up your lover's quarrel," Abby told them, "but why am I here?"

Before Jazz could open her mouth to speak, Tucker cut in. "She'll find out soon enough," he told her. "What happened to us will be her fate."

"What?"

Sam turned sad violet eyes onto the girl chained to the pillar. "I'm sorry, Abby, I had hoped this lifetime would be the one to break the curse."

All three ghosts flickered out like flame, as Abby felt the chains loosen and fall to the ground. Invisible hands prodded her from behind.

"Ouch!" she exclaimed, rubbing her backside. "No need to be rough. I'll follow. Lead on, MacDuff."

A golden lantern appeared and moved onto one of the dimly lit pathways.

* * *

Danny picked up the gilded knife and sliced open both palms and placed them on the last of the Trees of Life. Its fruits were shriveled husks waiting to be filled. Tears filled his eyes, as the pain of his awakened core burned with fiery cold.

His task complete, he placed the knife on the pedestal he'd picked it from and smeared the flowing blood over the wounds. Washing his hands after the blood dried, he inspected his palms. No marks. Never a sign he'd cut his palms. Immaculate.

He cried again, and felt something tug on his sleeve. Glancing around, he found a golden lantern bobbing in the air before him.

"You want me to follow you?" he asked.

The lantern bobbed once.

He sighed. "Alright."

The lantern took off floating along a path to his right.

* * *

He crashed into a solid form, and knocked it to the ground. "I've got you now!" he exclaimed triumphantly, only to find an equally stunned Abby pinned beneath him.

"Get off me, you ass," she said, shoving up at him. He got up, and offtered her a hand.

"Sorry," he apologized, "Hecate's invisible servants can be in a bit of a rush some time. How did you get here?"

"I don't know," she said. "You did your fruit juice trick with a disguised Yakar fruit and then there was blackness. When I woke up, these ghosts were there and said I was in the Labyrinth of Lost Something or Other, and then the chains fell off and I followed this lantern and you tackled me to the ground. Where are we?"

He looked at her askance. "In a forgotten part of Hecate's Midnight Garden, and if you're here then that can't be a good sign." He blew an upwards draft fluttering his snowy bangs for a moment. Ruby eyes looked heavenwards in thought, then flickered back to her.

Phantom shook his head. "I'm locked in ghost form for the moment, and the hunger is gnawing at the door."

"Then take the gift I freely offer you, my son," a woman's alto resounded from all around. "Do not be shy, my sweet prince. Soon you will sleep and the dawn will rise. But first, drink the life you have been gifted."

Abby looked around. "I don't see anything."

Phantom looked at her. "She means you, Abby."

Abby looked at him blankly.

Phantom wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled him to her. Tilting her head back, exposing her throat, she faintly heard the ghost's words from before 'what happened to us, will be her fate'. What had Danny done to those people?

She felt his eyeteeth scrape her throat and she shoved him back with all her strength. "No," she told him.

Ruby eyes looked back at her blankly, then he reached for her again.

She moved out of his arm's length.

"I said 'no'," she repeated.

"Hope still exists," Jazz said, reappearing. She looked at Phantom knowingly. "Hello, little brother."

Phantom shook his head, ruby eyes turning green. He looked up at the girl.

"Jazz?"

"Don't forget us, dude," Tucker said, as he and Sam shimmered into being. "We don't have much time, Danny. There is only one way to break Hecate's curse."

"How?" Abby said.

"Purge the Yakar juice from his veins, and then put him to sleep," Sam said. "When he awakes, your life blood must be the first thing he feeds from."

"And then?"

"The rest is up to you," Jazz finished. "We must go. Hecate comes."

Abby watched in horror as Danny screamed and began destroying a marble pillar nearby. "Not again!" she heard him yell. "Not ever again!"


	6. Lemon Splashes

_Burning Hope_

 _By: Wilona Riva_

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom._

* * *

 **Lemon Splashes**

* * *

 _Trust Abby to find the dumbest solution to a complicated curse. Or rather her crazy grandmother's recipe for a detox cleanse and some ghosts._

Daniel put down his pen and looked back at over all he'd written thus final. This was the final chapter after all. Tomorrow he'd be crowned King of All Ghosts, and then this lifetime would be over. He wouldn't see Abby or the Night School ever again, for he would return to his original timeline. Clockwork insisted on it.

He yawned.

Day was coming.

Time to sleep.

* * *

"Oh, Abby, Abby, Abby!" Danny crooned softly, throwing a chunk of marble out of his way. "Won't you have dinner with me?"

"Not when I'm on the menu," the human girl muttered, crouching down behind a marble bust of Hermes. A tap on her shoulder sent a shudder of fear through her, but she relaxed when she saw the unnamed dark haired girl ghost, who put a finger to her lips, and motioned her to move back slowly.

Abby complied, and she found herself tumbling down a large, dark hole. The fall was short, and she was glad she hadn't broken anything. Six feet at the most, though wherever she was, it felt like something sharp and bony was poking her.

"Oh, starry lights, don't let this be a grave," she prayed. Remembering she had a keychain flashlight in her pocket-she liked to be prepared-she pulled it and flicked it on. A empty-eyed skull grinned back at her. She screamed and scrambled off the pile of bones.

"Still got it in me," the girl ghost laughed. "Oh, you should see your face!"

"That's you?" Abby asked.

"Or what's left of me and Danny's other victims," the girl told her. "I'm Sam Manson, and I know Jazz and Tucker forgot to introduce me, so I'd thought I'd introduce myself. Come, let's get out of this grave pit. Follow me."

Following Sam, Abby found a small tunnel which she had to crawl through on all fours for what felt like a mile before it opened up into a huge cavern. What looked like melting stalactites dripped water from the ceiling into a dark pool.

"There's an empty thermos over there by the calcite rock," Sam said, motioning for her to go and get it. "Fill it with water from the pool. We don't have much time."

Climbing over slippery rocks, and skinning her knee when she fell, once or twice, she snagged the thermos and filled it from a gushing spring from which the pool was fed. Twisting on the cap, she found Sam had disappeared and Tucker had taken her place.

"We go up to the surface, back to the Labyrinth. You're going to need a fire seed from the heart of the sun."

"A what?"

"It only grows during the dark of the moon," he said, charging a flight of stone steps carved into the side of the cavern. "Follow me."

"Knew I shouldn't have skipped gym class so often," she muttered.

* * *

Hecate spun Danny around, causing the marble chunk to fall behind them with a large thud. He gulped and tried to run, but she slapped his face. "You let her get away," she snarled. "It took me ages to get free so we could be together, and you let the sacrifice get away. Don't you love me any more, my son?"

"You're not my mother!" he snarled. "Get away!"

"But I can be her," Hecate purred, taking the form of Phaedra Snow. "Or your other mother, if you'd like." Maddie looked coyly back at him with her violet eyes.

"You're not my mother!" he repeated, as Hecate took her natural form and pressed his trembling form against hers. Tilting her neck to the side, she murmured for him to drink.

He moaned and turned his head away. "No," he whimpered. "Not again."

Hecate guided his lips to the vein that pulsed beneath her flesh.

* * *

"I smell citrus," Abby said, as she poked her head up from the hole in the ground.

"That will be the third component," Jazz said, giving her a hand up, then turning to help Tucker. "Here in this part of the Labyrinth, we Lost Souls have enough substance to touch mortal flesh."

"So where's this fire seed?" Abby asked.

"Right this way," Tucker told her.

"You're freaking kidding me, right?" Abby exclaimed, a short while later. Her eyes nearly bulged out their sockets. "I have to ask a fire-breathing alligator to spit in the thermos?"

"Yep."

"Not gonna happen."

"Abby, you are the only one who can save my little brother," Jazz told her. "Ask and you shall receive."

Abby gulped. "Fine," she said, squaring her shoulders. "If I get eaten, I'm coming back to haunt your afterlives."

"Atta girl," Tucker cheered her on. "That's the spirit."

"Tucker!" three outraged girls yelled at the very worst pun he'd come up with tonight.

 _Of course they would forget to mention the lava pit and the rope suspension bridge. You can do this, Abby. Just keep your eye on the gator and you'll be fine. And that the dang freaking thing can talk!_

"Course I can talk, sweet cheeks," the alligator replied, as if reading her thoughts. "What's a cool mortal morsel like yourself doing way down south in the lava pits?"

The rope bridge swayed dangerously, as she put one foot carefully in front of the other, both eyes never leaving the gator. With luck she wouldn't upchuck when she got off this thing.

"Heard you were a big spitter," she said. "How far can you spit?"

"As far as the moon from Mars, cupcake," the alligator told her, standing up. "Tell you what, guess my name within seventries and I'll spit in that there tin cup o' yours."

"And if I don't?"

"Lunch time!" he exclaimed with a toothy grin.

"Of course," she said, dryly. "Have to get help from a sweet talking pig."

"Sweet talking gator, apple dumpling," the gator corrected. "Remember, seven guesses and not one more."

"Fine," she sighed. "Bill?"

"Never worked in Congress, sugar."

"Dundee?"

"My cousin of another species."

"Sobek?"

"Fall down and worship at my feet, my sweet little moon pie."

"Soundwave?"

"Only if the animal world goes to war, raisin bun."

"Daisy?"

"Darn it!" the gator swore. He scowled at her. "Bring that thing over here, and unscrew the top."

Crossing over to the other side of the lava pits, she slugged Tucker-really hard. Jazz and Sam tried to hide their laughter, but to no avail. Abby and Tucker joined them.

* * *

Danny Phantom was waiting for them, stock stone still, watching them as they approached the citrus grove from the east. Deliverance always comes from the east as everyone knows. His blood ruby eyes followed Abby's every movement. His lips were carmine; he had just fed she'd guessed from Hecate's Fount of Life.

Abby took a running leap, jumped onto a high stump, and sprang upwards to grab a low-hanging branch of a lemon tree. Missing, she fell with a grunt, dusted herself off, and tried again. Failed a third and fourth time.

"Let me," Danny's cool breath whispered against her neck after her latest failure. "Hmm, you smell delicious, Abs."

She stiffened. "Danny..."

"Let me help," he repeated.

Abby looked over at the ghostly trio, who shrugged.

"None have ever gotten this far," Sam told her. "New waters for us, too."

Tilting her head up to look up at Danny, who was floating a little above her and behind. "Is there a way out of here for us?"

"For me, there is," he replied. "For you, the door is death."

She paled. "Then if I'm to die, get me that lemon, so I add its juice to this drink I'm making."

"What for?" he asked.

"A concoction I'd making. I need you to be my guinea pig, though."

He sighed. "Do I have too?"

"Is water wet?" she shot back, hands on hips.

Danny sighed again, and then flew upwards and plucked a lemon from the citrus tree. On it grew all manners of grapefruits, oranges, limes, and other citrus fruits. It, in fact, was the divine tree from which all such plants originated.

"That smells foul," he commented, when Abby opened the thermos. She'd made an incision with her thumbnail and squeezed the lemon's juice into the sulphurous cocktail. Recapping it, she shook it vigorously, uncapped it, and handed it to him.

"Now, drink," she commanded.

* * *

 _Looks like Daniel is reading Terry Pratchett again,_ Clockwork mused _. The boy's left the story unfinished._ Even he _was_ curious as to how the curse had been lifted _. His vampiric aspects would go away_ _in time. Better nip **that** part in the bud before he's ready to explore nighttime activities._


End file.
